45
them have trust in me, so I can lead and help every-
one.
"We have to realize that we lost one person (Hick-
ey) but it was a big piece of the puzzle. Other peo-
ple are going to have to compensate for it and find
ways to make up for that loss. Right now, everyone
is learning a new position ― people who redshirt-
ed last year are trying to
get spots this year and the
competition is really good
for April."
But it has been a strug-
gle to get to this point,
Sheffield admitted.
"This has been a tough
spring," he said. "We had to
get back into grinding and
that hasn't been something
that has been easy for us. The first few weeks, we
were really butting heads a lot. They've got good
intentions, but they weren't going about things the
way they needed to. They were frustrated because I
was frustrated and getting on them and they couldn't
understand why.
"The one thing I told them, 'April should not feel
like November or December.' This is a grind. This is
working on techniques. This is expanding roles. It's
hard stuff. You're out of your comfort zone. Our kids
were expanding their game but they weren't having
the same results."
Instead of pulling back or letting up, Sheffield
stayed on them. Mission accomplished.
"Kelly can't be the same
coach that he was in De-
cember," Carlini said. "And
we can't have the same
mindset. We had to come
to terms with December is
not April and April is not
December."
Sheffield has always
been good at saying the
right thing at the right time.
This was no different.
"We were climbing one mountain last year," he
told the players. "We were up there, near the top of
the mountain, and there were people (Penn State)
higher than us.
"But you just don't go up there and stay up there
and look around. You go find another mountain to
"WE WERE CLIMBING ONE MOUNTAIN
LAST YEAR,'" SHEFFIELD SAID. "BUT YOU
DON'T JUST GO UP THERE AND STAY UP
THERE AND LOOK AROUND. YOU GO FIND
ANOTHER MOUNTAIN TO CLIMB. HOPE-
FULLY THIS ONE IS A LITTLE TALLER."
GREG
ANDERSON
